An Evolution of Measurement

Measurement is a simple, beautiful experience. That’s what Lapka’s Personal Environment Monitor taught us. That’s what you taught Lapka. We see thousands of measurements every month from all over the world show up on our real time map: radiation in California, electromagnetic fields in Dublin, humidity in São Paulo, the nitrate levels of an avocado from a suburb in Tokyo.

A new conversation with our environment was starting.

When you take a reading it is automatically sent to Lapka’s server and displayed on a beautifully designed map.

With Lapka, measurement wasn’t simply something that you recorded, it was something you wore. The devices became fashion accessories. They might’ve been the most stylish addition to your living room or the perfect compliment to your outfit. Their science was discreet, but their charm was not.

The environment suddenly became more mysterious but it was attractive that way. And we now had the tools to go deeper.

First generation of Lapka‘s Personal Environment Monitor

How do we liberate measurement even further, without forgetting the beauty we already uncovered?

Although the cord that connects Lapka to your smartphone is one of its most charismatic features, it turned out to be a bit of a friction in the experience. There were the extra steps of plugging in or switching devices, as well as the general weight of having something attached to your phone. The dependence on the cord also prevented us from using more than one sensor at a time, and complicated the support of Android or Windows smartphones.

The most beautiful cord ever

The Next Prototype

So we removed the cord, all without changing the core functionality. Introducing the prototype for Lapka PEM 2.0.

Removing the cord doesn’t just solve the problems previously raised. It expands the experience of the Personal Environment Monitor, namely by the possibility of a multi-sensor platform. This modular system will allow you to customize your experience:

Go wireless or continue to use the cord

Take a single measurement (a snapshot if you will) or gather data continuously, for weeks even.

Tune the system to your needs (for instance, use multiple Radiation sensors simultaneously)

Make it independent. With no cable, you could leave Lapka EMF in your backpack or pocket to track your route home, or…

Wear it throughout the day

New module

By adding a new bluetooth module to the Lapka PEM’s, we’ll be able to tremendously expand the range of usage scenarios for the system. It transforms every Lapka PEM sensor into an independent device.

Lapka Bluetooth

Kim, Gray and Transparent

The bluetooth comes in the form of a beautiful cap, that you can add or remove to the device.

How it works

Attach any one of the sensors to the bluetooth module and sync it with your phone. That’s it. Now you can leave the device on its own, while it continuously monitors your environment.

From wired to wireless

Cordless magic

For instance, with the Lapka Bluetooth module, you’ll be able to leave your Lapka Humidity outdoor for weeks and collect the data to explore later.

Or take it with you, but without the process of plugging and unplugging to take a measurement. It’s like Go-Pro, but for environment tracking.

We’d like to add more sensors to the family, and even build a standalone station as an accessory, a little wi-fi home base for your Lapka collection. That way you can monitor the indoor environment of your apartment for many months in a row.

Next steps

There’s still a lot to figure out. However, the vision of this prototype demonstrates the potential to create a platform for all kind of environment sensors, with a customizable user experience — whether you want to professionally measure radiation, play with EMF data, monitor indoor air quality or just casually wear a humidity sensor.

It’s one scalable system with many use cases and potential to expand to a modular platform. Follow our updates. The future is long.